Theodore G. Weeks & Nathan W. Doty

Were the first of this company [Co. D, 2nd Iowa Infantry] to fall in battle. In the charge at Donelson the Second Iowa was led by as brave a man as ever led soldiers into battle, and braver soldiers never followed a leader. Mills says, in a letter written to his brother in Des Moines shortly after the battle : —

"Colonel Tuttle loomed up tall in front, waving his sword and stepping firmly and proudly. Men were seen dropping out of the ranks killed and wounded. Theodore G. Weeks, the ardent fellow, was killed by a ball in his head when he got to the inside of the earthworks. The line was there reformed, and we fired awhile at the retreating rebels. We then advanced to the main entrenchments. Here the fight was desperate and we lost many good men Sergeant Nathan W. Doty, who had won a great many friends in the regiment by his intelligence and amiability, was killed near by me."

When the remains of Weeks and Doty were brought home they were buried with most imposing ceremonies. The Mayor and City Council of Des Moines took charge of the solemn exercises. All the business houses of the city were closed, and business was suspended from 11 A. M. to 3 P. M., and both Houses of the General Assembly, then in session, adjourned in honor of the occasion; and the members, accompanied by the Governor of the State and his staff, and the United States and State officers, and the officers of both Houses, attended the funeral in a body, and with the lodges of Freemasons and Odd Fellows and Good Templars, and the military, and the largest concourse of citizens ever assembled in Des Moines, listened to the eloquent eulogy pronounced by Hon. D. O. Finch, in honor of the dead.

To show the interest that was then felt in the martyred soldiers, and the honor then thought not unworthily bestowed upon them, I will here present an account of the entire proceedings of that day, commencing with a complete programme of the exercises, premising that, if these two noble, generous, and patriotic youths who gave their lives a willing sacrifice — the first offered of the residents of this community — merited, as they certainly did, these solemn honors, should not the 280 martyrs from this city and county also receive from our hands some handsome mark of our appreciation of their services and sacrifices?

HONOR TO THE BRAVE.

The funeral of Nathan W. Doty, and Theodore G. Weeks, members of Company D, 2d Iowa Regiment, who were killed at the battle of Fort Donelson, will take place at Ingham's Hall, Tuesday, March 11,1862, 12 o'clock M.

ORDER OF EXERCISES.

Voluntary

By the Choir

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden,

And I will give you rest — I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me;

For I am meek and lowly of heart,

An ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

His yoke is easy and his burden is light.”

Prayer	By Rev. Thompson Bird
Reading	By Rev. Edward W. Peet
	XVth Chapter Of Corinthians
Voluntary	By the Choir

"As for man his days are as the grass; his days are as the grass;

As a flower of the field so he flourisheth; so he flourisheth;

For the wind passeth over it and it is gone; it is gone;

And the place thereof shall know it no more, shall know it no more."

Funeral Oration	By D. O. Finch
Prayer	By Rev. J. M. Chamberlain
Voluntary	By the Choir
	"Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb; Take this new treasure to thy trust, And give these sacred relics room To slumber in the silent dust; And give these sacred relics room To slumber in the silent dust. "Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear Invade thy bound — no mortal woes Can reach the peaceful sleeper here, While angels watch his soft repose. "Break from his throne illustrious morn! Attend, O earth! his sovereign word; Restore thy trust — a glorious form Shall then arise to meet the Lord; Restore thy trust — a glorious form Shall then arise and meet the Lord."

Chief Marshal J. N. Dewey will form the procession.

Assistant Marshal.	CHIEF MARSHAL.	Assistant Marshal.
	BRASS BAND.
	MILITARY ESCORT.
	PALL BEARERS – CITIZENS.
Body Guard,		Body Guard,
Soldiers	HEARSE.	Soldiers
of Second Iowa.		of Second Iowa.
	MOURNERS.
	ASSISTANT MARSHAL.
	CLERGY AND ORATOR.
	GOVERNOR AND STAFF.
	ASSISTANT MARSHAL.
	LIEUTENANT – GOVERNOR AND SPEAKER OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
	OFFICERS OF UNITED STATES AND STATE OFFICERS.
	MILITARY COMMITTEES OF SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
	MEMBERS OF LEGISLATURE.
	MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF DES MOINES.
	ASSISTANT MARSHAL
	STRANGERS.
	MASONS.
	ODD FELLOWS.
	GOOD TEMPLARS.
	CITIZENS ON FOOT.
	ASSISTANT MARSHAL.
	CITIZENS IN CARRIAGES.
	CITIZENS ON HORSEBACK.
	ASSISTANT MARSHAL.

ORATION.

"There is that in the holy solemnity of the occasion which has called us together, which renders any near approach by me to the expectations which the subject would naturally inspire, a moral impossibility.

"The mere contemplation of death, upon the basis of theory alone, is attended with such manifold evidences of a dreadful something, that it causes a tremor to creep over the frame of old and young, rich and poor, Christian and infidel. We read the heart-rending details of the distant battle-field, of pools of brains and streamlets of blood, and an increased horror fills our souls, the cold sweat stands from the brow, and untold agonies centre round the heart. But alas! when we enter the chamber of death itself, and behold in the cold forms of dear friends now dead, living evidences by which conceptions are converted into realities — what language can express, what tongue can speak the intensity of anguish which fills our souls! We would all, dictated by nature, fetter the tongue, drop the pen, and let the heart speak in its own deep and impressive language, the silent but potent tear, as it glitters at the outlet of its unsearchable caverns.

"A few months since, these two noble specimens of enlightened humanity were among us. Health was emblemized by their ruddy cheeks, mirth beamed in their eyes, jollity danced on their lips; and each exterior emblem was a talisman of the social virtues and honest purpose which drew around them, when living, the host of friends who now attest their due appreciation of their merit by performing these last sad duties to their tenantless clay. That they were good boys, we knew; that they were worthy the respect of the society in which they moved, none doubted then, and none doubt now. And yet how little did we know of them then!

''When, on the wings of the lightning, sad messages were borne to us that combinations and conspiracies were forming for the purpose of destroying this fair fabric of government, the mourning which only mantles the hero's brow, decked not less theirs than that of the veteran. And when at last the long-dreaded period arrived when our flag, hitherto respected by the world, was insulted in the home of its birth; when, within sound of the last resting-place of Marion and of Sumter, it was wantonly and maliciously assailed; when, as it were, the reverberations of the foulmouthed cannon whose missiles had rent the emblem of our nationality, struck the ears of Weeks and Doty, it affected them as it did all true patriots. The smile gave way to the frown, the merry song gave place to the justifiable oath, and they were among the first to place their lives subject to the order of the government.

"No nobler men have engaged in the holy cause of our country than the company of the Second Iowa Regiment of which those we now mourn were members; and I think I may say, without disparagement to any member of that company, that those we mourn would compare favorably with any of their companions.

"We know not ourselves, and very little indeed do we know of those around us, until by the application of immutable tests, we become enlightened as to both. We cull glittering sands with joy, but we turn with disgust from the dross left in the crucible. We tread daily upon jewels because they chance not to sparkle as we pass. We live near neighbor to the great and do not know it; we court and praise cowards in our daily intercourse with the world and know it not.

"How fortunate indeed are they who have bequeathed to friends a name, a character of which there can be no doubt, which has passed through the furnace of severest trial, and been left a spotless legacy to his race. Such are the characters our friends have bequeathed, not alone to those in whose veins circulate the same blood, but to us all. We all claim a share in the rich legacy to which, by their unwritten and unspoken will, we are justly entitled. Their will was their blood, and it was shed for the country, and as loyal citizens of it, no surrogate can by edict deprive us of our rightful inheritance.

"The memory of the departure from our city of that noble band, will not soon be effaced from the minds of our people. How the heart almost choked the 'God speed' in the throat of the fond father. How the tear-dimmed eye of the doting mother spoke the gentle 'good-by.' How endless seemed the sister's fond embrace when, breaking from the joys of home, the endearments of congenial companionship, and all the ties that cement the soul to familiar scenes, they left our midst to mingle in carnage and in blood. What noble emotions must have struggled in their bosoms for mastery over the selfish inclinations of human nature, and how grand indeed the bloodless victory, evidenced by the baring of their youthful breasts to the bayonets of the traitors, that the godlike principle of self-government might yet survive the most gigantic rebellion ever inaugurated by human ingenuity or urged to success by human power.

"Influenced not alone by the enthusiasm of the moment, these young men, possessed of intelligence and forethought, entered upon the arduous struggle before them with full conviction of the high duty which beckoned them from the unruffled bosom of civil life to the more hazardous field of war. It was after a calm deliberation upon the momentous issues involved in the fearful contest, and beholding as they did but one right and one wrong, fidelity upon the one side to the cardinal principles of free government, and upon the other the most accursed treason against not only the letter of constitutional law, but against the spirit, aye, the vital spirit of our institutions, they chose as only true men can choose, buckled on the armor of the soldier, and exposed themselves to the chances of war. While we all accord credit, but few, if any, who have not themselves experienced, can truly comprehend the magnitude of that great moral victory fought on the battle-field of the soul.

"Upon the one side are hung out as inducements to the young mind, all the allurements of comparative ease, the elegancies, the luxuries in many cases, and in all, the indescribable pleasures and comforts of home, the companionship of parents, brothers, and sisters, and not unfrequently, that of souls wedded by spiritual ties not weaker in their claims and more irresistible in their effects; and upon the other, a deadly conflict, to enter which, by all past experience, the mind as well as the body is wholly untutored. Fatigue, labor, and total absence of bodily comfort or mental recreation, encounter them at every step; and last, but not least, the grim monster, Death, stalks boldly into their midst. He comes not to the brow when moistened by the tears of love. He comes not to the well attended sick bed, where half his terrors are shorn by seraph voices, and ministering angels whisper the soul to kindlier regions, but he comes with stolid step, and with unassuaged pestilence; he treads the funeral bier with iron heel, and drives the unwilling soul into the immediate presence of God who gave it. When we fully contemplate the inducements on the one side, and the seeming terrors on the other, how can we find language to express our admiration of that patriotism which enables the youth to forego all the pleasures of the one, and willingly yoke himself to all the perils of the other.

"Your hearts speak the eulogy which lips cannot utter, and the tear only — the angel's pen, can translate the soul.

"We witnessed their departure, and now we welcome the return of the clay which then enveloped their noble souls. But who shall truly write of the intervening time? Who paint the joys, the woes? Who follow with the pen their weary limbs in the midnight march? Who tell the thoughts which occupied the mind of the lonely sentinel, as for long and tedious hours he paced his accustomed beat with no witness to his fidelity but God and the stars? Who conceive the dreams of home, of friends, of victory, of honor, which have sometimes tortured, sometimes consoled their frozen couch? And where the pen that can truly paint the glow of laudable pride, when they have gazed upon the bright stars of a vindicated flag? Such tasks, I have not the presumption to undertake; but the record which in their humble way they have impressed upon the historic page, warrants me in saying that they were incapable of any neglect of the responsibilities which attached to their position.

"Exposed to all the changes of season, to the miasmas of the low lands, and the cutting breezes of the mountain, to contagions, and diseases of the most dangerous and the most disgusting nature, without a murmur they performed their duties in the tedious campaign which resulted in redeeming our neighboring State from the pestilential breath of secession. The contagions which affected the body entered not the pure atmosphere of the soul. Warded off by a devotion as patriotic as it was deep, bodily ills were made to yield to spiritual determination, and they were called to a field of more arduous, more hazardous duty, and to a service of more intense importance to our cause and our country; and in this new sphere the already signaled valor of the Hawkeye soldier became a fully solved problem, and its result is recorded in the history of the most tempestuous days of our Republic. At Wilson's Creek, the Iowa First had demonstrated that the Iowa soldier was not a soldier for fun. They remained by the gallant Lyon, when by all law and by all obligation of contract, they could have returned to their homes and their friends. They were patriots. Love of country, and the highest sense of honor, prompted them to remain. To what purpose, you all know. They led one of the most gallant charges, and covered one of the most brilliant retreats of which the military history of the world can boast.

"The gallant Iowa Seventh at Belmont added another wreath to the brow of the Iowa soldier. For miles, over hill and dale, through woodland and swamp, they fought their way to the goal of their hope, and on their weary return cut their pathway of death through fresh foes. Their gallant dead have a choice niche in our memory, and the surviving brave are among the dearest objects of our individual and our State pride; but by mandates of fortune, it was reserved for the Iowa Second to crown the wreath.

"Fort Henry had yielded to the patriot band, — but Donelson frowned with her huge breastworks, her hundred eyes with leaden balls, her rifle-pits and loud-mouthed batteries, upon Freedom's advancing host. This was the barricade to the land of Jackson, where those who had inherited the true spirit of his noble words and more noble example, were waiting deliverance from a worse than Egyptian bondage. This must be overcome. Sage commanders so ordered. The six starred flag floating from the bulwark, and flaunting a falsehood to every breath of American air that bent its uncomely stripes, appealed not in vain to determined hearts. The siege was laid. For three long days was waged a bloody warfare against advantage. So thick were strewn the dead and dying that the very earth might have been deemed the mother of misery and the generator of death. On the afternoon of the third day, victory or a failure hung upon the result of one mighty effort. The breastworks must be stormed and the intrenchments gained. Where could attention with more propriety be turned? Where could confidence more implicitly rest at this critical and trying moment, than upon the well-drilled delegates of that State, whose representatives had never failed upon any battle-field to prove themselves fully equal to the great exigencies of the most important occasions.

"The Iowa Second were ordered to the front — the object of intensest desire pointed out. In the concentrated intensity of the hour, was centered the hopes of millions. The scale of destiny was balanced for the moment. To falter was to dishonor for the time, perhaps forever, the flag and the cause; one quivering nerve might unnerve the whole; one faltering voice, one tremulous accent might shatter hope; but fear not. With an alacrity unexcelled save by the undaunted courage which beamed in every eye and sat firmly on each determined feature, they sprang to the post of honor and of danger. With fixed bayonet, with rapid, yet regular tread, they bent themselves to the mighty work, on, up the rugged hill-side, over rock and fallen tree, over dead and dying, amid the buzzing cloud of death's leaden messengers, still on they go. Many pause, but only at the order of Deity; but those spared this invitation to himself, still press forward; the point is won; the breastworks are mounted; the intrenchments are gained; the enemy is forced to retire; peal upon peal of enthusiastic joy roll out upon the evening air; the exultations of victory are heard by Weeks and Doty, and the shouts of triumph inspire the last emotions of their souls, as, just inside the intrenchments of the enemy, they sink to the sleep of the brave dead. From the heat of this deadly charge their souls took flight to the bosom of a God who invites to his mansion the souls of the virtuous and the brave. What a death! Who would not release his claim to the last two thirds of the allotted period of life, thus to live, and thus to die? These young men, one not yet having arrived at the age of majority, and the other having just entered the period of manhood, are about to fill, and fill well, the veteran's grave.

"You relatives, and we friends, mourn that we no more this side of eternity can enjoy their companionship; but could they now witness the imposing ceremonies which attend the march of their ashes to their narrow house in the cemetery, to which they have oft with mourner's tread followed the loved dead — could they listen to the silent eulogy which each heart is paying to their fearless patriotism — could they witness the pride with which the citizens of our State lisp their names, as a portion of her representatives upon the battle-field of constitutional liberty — could they witness the conscious pride which keeps company to the mournful tear, as it courses the cheeks of the denizens of our own city when we reflect that they were part of us, they would never again hazard a reappearance upon earth, and take the risk of finding in the vicissitudes of the future another as glorious spot to die.

"Why then should we mourn? By the prayers of the loyal, let us wing away their souls, and with willing hands we will consign what remains to our own earth. As an emblem of the purity in which they lived, we will enshroud their bodies in virgin white, and as a symbol of the glory which crowned their death, we will wrap their coffin with the noble banner in the defense of which they died, deposit them in the quiet grave, and by example teach those who may come after us to moisten with patriot tears the sod which covers the mortal remains of these youthful martyrs to Freedom.

"They have erected their own monument, and it is located in our hearts. This manifestation of our respect is highly appropriate. Let it go forth that to the brave living and honorably discharged, Iowa extends her most cordial welcome, and as to these, so will she always do honor to the ashes of the brave dead. And by our acts at home, as by those of our soldiers in the field, it will become as proverbial as it is true, that this is not the home of cowards, or the asylum of traitors.

"These imposing ceremonies cannot fail to leave deeply impressed upon our minds lessons of the greatest magnitude. By them we are again reminded of the feebleness of that thread upon which hangs our hopes of continued earthly joys. By them we are reminded that the time is unimportant, when compared with the manner in which we live; that in fact it is quite immaterial at what time and in what manner the grim monster, Death, approaches us, so that he finds us bent to the performance of sacred duties, and engaged in godlike pursuits.

"May our hearts not reject the lessons so laden with holy consolations, and my fervent prayer is that when death shall come to our eyes, — whether with leaden messengers we may be borne down beneath the chastening shadow of our flag, or whether by slow and stealthy step he creeps to our languishing sick-bed, — it may find our minds filled with as holy desires as those which must have actuated the souls of Theodore G. Weeks and Nathan W. Doty, as they sacrificed themselves upon their country's altar on the bloody field of Donelson."

Thus may the brave ever receive honor in this capital! Des Moines and Polk County will, I trust, ever cherish and revere the memory of the fallen from this community; and I hope that the people of no section of the Union will ever neglect or forget the patriot dead.

Doty was born in Lockport, Niagara County, N. Y., July 1, 1839. His father moved to Michigan, where Nathan was sent to the University and received a good education, — could read and speak the German language with facility, having learned it at school. "He was always," says his mother, "thirsting for knowledge." He loved the study of history — was well informed on almost every subject — would converse with the most learned — had great argumentative powers — and he wrote beautifully. His letters, written when he was a boy at school, were greatly admired by persons of good taste and education. It could hardly be credited that they were written by one so young.

He loved the green fields, the prairies and hills, and beautiful rivers. He says, writing from Keokuk, June 1st, 1861 : "We are now in our new quarters, which are the best in the city . . . It is a most lovely day, and as I sit here on the top verandah, my eye roams over some of the finest scenery I ever beheld. We have a fine view of the old Mississippi for several miles, as it moves along, glittering in the bright sunlight; the prairies of Illinois rolling far away in the distance — the bluffs of Missouri covered with trees and verdure of every kind — so delightful! — I am almost willing to say that I could live here always and cheerfully put up -with the privations of a soldier's life."  His heart was all aglow with love of his country. "I am determined," said he to his mother, "to see this Rebellion crushed or die in the cause." He had just returned from a short furlough to his home in Michigan, when the battle of Donelson occurred. He says: —

"LOCKPORT, Jan'y 10, 1862.

"Dear C– : I am all right in our old home. I made up my mind that I would like some better to come and see the folks here than to go to Des Moines, inasmuch as I had not seen this place in five years. I left home in Colon yesterday noon and arrived here this morning at 4 o'clock — have not yet been out of town; but shall go soon and visit all the folks. I shall go back to Colon in two weeks and expect to start for the regiment in one week from that time. "

Little did he think that so soon after his visit to his "old home," he must pass to his home where the angels dwell. On the l5th of February, 1862, he fell fighting bravely for the "old home," with the "God bless you" of his many relatives and friends still warm in his heart.

It is sometimes said of those who die on beds of tranquillity at home, "They died happy." Doty died triumphant. Just at the moment he was struck, he was urging on his comrades, crying, "On, on boys, the day is ours!" The ball passed through his heart. He did not speak afterwards; but (says Captain Marsh, in whose arms he died), "A bright smile beamed on his countenance."

He said to his mother when he parted from her for the last time, "I will put my trust in God." He left home with gloomy forebodings; but he said he would rather the greatest evil should befall him than miss going with his regiment. If he had delayed at home a half a day longer he could not have been at the battle of Donelson. He reached St. Louis just as the regiment was embarking.

Colonel Turtle says in a letter published in the "Iowa State Register," shortly after the battle of Donelson, "I don't know how reports will reach you at home, but here we are all covered with glory. Sergeant Doty was amongst the bravest of the brave, and died like a hero."

The following tribute written by D. C. R. appeared shortly after the death of N. W. Doty : —

" 'Onward, hurrah, onward, my boys,

The Second Iowa leads the van.'

And marching, bravely, firmly on,

Young Doty fell. No coward heart,

No faltering there; the cannon's roar,

The whistling bullet, bursting bomb,

Had not a sound to pale his lip

Or blanch his cheek.  How sweet the smile

That o'er his features calmly spread,

As victory seemed within his grasp.

Why weep ye, friends?  His soul has fled

To realms of beauty, there to raise

New anthems to his Maker's praise."

Weeks was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, on the l5th day of August, 1842. The following well written account of this boy was prepared by his father, Dr. John G. Weeks, and recorded in copies of the Bible purchased with the back pay due Theodore at the time of his death. These were presented by Dr. Weeks to each of his surviving children to commemorate their fallen brother.

DR. WEEKS' ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF HIS SON.

. . . . "Upon the appearance of President Lincoln's first proclamation calling for volunteer soldiers to aid in putting down the Rebellion of 1861, he embraced the very first opportunity to enlist as a private soldier, very much to our surprise, as he had lost two fingers from his right hand, thus rendering him forever free from any military service under a draft. He insisted so strongly that it was his duty to go, that we gave our consent, though he was under our control, being still a minor. On the mustering of his company at Keokuk, Iowa, he was rejected by the U. S. mustering officer for disability. Still determined to serve his country he, with the assistance of an officer (General Crocker), appealed from the decision of the mustering officer to the War Department of the United States. While awaiting the decision of the Department a much better position, pecuniarily, came within his reach, but he declined, saying that he would only go into the army to fight for his country. The decision of the Department was favorable to his wishes, and he was mustered into the service of the United States. This is the only instance that has ever come to our knowledge of an appeal to the War Department for the privilege of serving in the capacity of a private soldier.

"Shortly after entering active service he wrote in his journal, 'The world owes fame and position to all who earn it; and I will have just so much of its emoluments as I can win by honorable means, and no more; for I would rather live and die in obscurity than sacrifice the noblest attribute of man, my honor, till now untarnished. This is my platform, and, by the help of One who controls the actions of all, I will never accept any other.' After several months' service, Sept. 13th, 1861, he wrote, 'I am determined to remain in the service of my country until her rights are established and her wrongs avenged, and if the chances of war require my life, it shall be a willing sacrifice on the altar of Liberty!'

"After months of trials and hardship and severe sickness, he is found doing his duty with his regiment at Fort Donelson. At the time of the order for the Second Iowa to make the ever memorable charge upon the enemy's works, he was at his place and ready for duty. Without a word spoken to any one he went forward with his regiment under the terrible fire of the enemy, up the hill and into the enemy's outer works. Here, after about a half hour's engagement, he was instantly killed by a rifle-ball in his temple. He fell at the age of nineteen years and six months. He was not permitted to know that he aided materially in gaining one of the greatest victories of the war. He died for his country!

"In his pocket Bible found after the battle, his captain, (who was afterwards himself mortally wounded in the battle of Corinth), wrote the following tribute to his memory: —

" 'Fort Donelson, Feb. 20,1862.

" 'I wish here to record my testimony that the owner of this Book, during his connection with my company, was a good soldier, always ready to do his duty, as he understood it. He was ever active, energetic, and intelligent, and died bravely in his place, while fighting with his company and regiment at the charge of the Second Iowa, which was followed by the surrender of this fort to the Union forces.

"'NOAH W. MILLS,

“'Capt. Co. D., 2d Iowa Infantry Volunteers.' "

The following reminiscences concerning Theodore Weeks may not be uninteresting in addition to what has been given.

During the night before the charge, the men were lying on the ground before little fires they had made to keep themselves from freezing. Some one said to Theodore: "Weeks, you are burning your coat." "O," he replied, "that is no matter; I shall not want it long."

He was very strong and active, and had saved two men from drowning by his expertness in swimming. There were few better marksmen. He could fire right and left, and was selected as a sharp-shooter. He was popular among his companions; every one was his friend. He enlisted at the first meeting in Des Moines to raise troops; was very temperate in his eating and drinking, and exemplary in his deportment. A chaplain who conversed with him a short time before the battle of Donelson, says: "Weeks thought earnestly of religious matters, and his conduct was that of an exemplary Christian."

SOURCE: Leonard Brown, American Patriotism: Or, Memoirs of Common Men, p. 31-48